{"nrhp_refnum":"90000677","name":"Union Chapel","other_names":["Oak Bluffs Christian Union Chapel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Bounded by Circuit, Kennebec, and Narragansett Aves. and Grove St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oak Bluffs","county":"Dukes County","state":"MA","lat":41.454678235000074,"lon":-70.55817403799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-06-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Union Chapel (Oak Bluffs Christian Union Chapel) is an octagonal, wood-frame, cedar-shingled meetinghouse in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, built in 1870-1871 in the American Stick Style.","why_significant":"It was the first nonsectarian religious building on the Vineyard, in a community previously known for Methodist camp meetings. It is the single surviving major work of local architect Samuel Freeman Pratt and the only extant historic eight-sided building on the island. The nomination argues it meets Criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Union Chapel is an eight-sided, wood-frame meetinghouse in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Oak Bluffs, on the north side of Martha's Vineyard. Built in 1870-1871 and designed by Boston architect Samuel Freeman Pratt, it combines Stick Style construction with Gothic Revival detailing and Queen Anne cedar shingles. Its two-tiered octagonal roof, clerestory, four entrance porches and star-patterned rafters inside give it a distinctive profile and fine acoustics. A 1928 ell was added, and the bell tower and steeple were removed that year. The chapel mattered because it was the first nonsectarian religious building on the Vineyard, serving islanders and summer visitors of any denomination in a resort next to a Methodist camp meeting. It is also the only surviving major work of Pratt, whose Sea View Hotel burned in 1892, and the only historic octagonal building on the island. It has remained in religious use since it was built.","period_of_significance":"1870-1940","architect_builder":"Pratt, Samuel Freeman","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Octagonal Mode; Stick Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In continued use as an interdenominational house of worship since construction; the original bell tower and steeple were removed in 1928.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.820372-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7946/63794612/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000677.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000677/f08061c216-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000677/f08061c216-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Chapel,_Oak_Bluffs_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Chapel,_Oak_Bluffs_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794612","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Chapel_(Oak_Bluffs,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7885486"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/dukes-county/union-chapel-90000677/"}